Is There a Place for Uplift in U.S. Politics?

Speaking on night three of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, Bloomberg LP founder Michael Bloomberg made an appeal to his fellow political independents: "To me, this election is not a choice between a Democrat and a Republican. It's a choice about who is better to lead our country right now: better for our economy, our security, our freedom and our future. There is no doubt in my mind that Hillary Clinton is the right choice."

Good news, mostly! The industrial recession that just ended in the U.S. didn't spread to other sectors -- the first time that's happened in American history. Conor Sen says that shows the economy is rebuilding with resilience.

Maybe Negative Yields Are a Sign of Prosperity

Globally, nearly $10 trillion in securities have yields below zero -- an unusual state of affairs which makes some analysts very nervous. Tyler Cowen offers a more optimistic view: Think of super-safe securities with negative yields as inexpensive insurance on the world's rising wealth.

Can the World Deal With a New Bank Meltdown?

But here's a grim perspective:Satyajit Das warnsthat the international financial system may be teetering on the edge of another disaster. Today there are $3 trillion in stressed loan assets worldwide, compared with just $1 trillion of U.S. subprime loans that triggered the 2009 crisis -- and even worse,the tools historically used to solve banking crises no longer seem to be working.